Determining the perceptions of nurses working in intensive care units in the patient delivery process and effective communication skills

Aim: This research was conducted to determine the perceptions and effective communication skills of nurses working in intensive care units during the patient handover process. Material and Method: The population of this descriptive and relationship-seeking research consists of a total of 465 nurses working in 22 intensive care units serving in one province. The sample of the study consisted of 236 nurses who met the inclusion criteria. Personal Information Form, Patient Delivery Evaluation Scale and Effective Communication Skills Scale were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics, independent student t-test, ANOVA analysis and Pearson Correlation analysis were applied to analyze the data. Results: Of the nurses participating in the study, 65.3% were women, 53.4% were 29 years old and under, and 90.7% had a bachelor's degree or above. It was determined that the nurses' mean scores on the Patient Handover Evaluation Scale were 67.76±11.54 and the mean scores on the Communication Skills Scale were 132.56±15.27. A positive and weak relationship was found between the Patient Handover Evaluation Scale and the Effective Communication Skills Scale. Conclusion: It was determined that the nurses' patient handover evaluation and communication skills levels were above the medium level. The evaluation of nurses' training on patient handover and their problems with patient handover in the unit they work in; It has been determined that gender, professional experience, professional satisfaction, working style, receiving effective communication process training and I-language training also affect communication skills levels. It is recommended to investigate different variables that may affect nurses' levels of patient handover evaluation and communication skills.